National Park After Dark - Trail Tales 72

Episode Date: June 19, 2025

Today’s stories include debunking aliens, an outdoorsy Maya Rudolph, Hot Springs love, spooky family lore and horny birds. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers!WE HAVE NEW MERCH!Listen to Watch Her Cook on Apple and Spotify! Follow us on InstagramFor a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:Instagram: @nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!Thank you to the week’s partners!IQBAR: Text PARK to 64000 to get 20% off all IQBAR products and free shipping.Graza: Add Graza Olive Oil to your summertime patio party arsenal. Visit https://graza.co/NPAD and use promo code NPAD today for 10% off of the TRIO!3 Day Blinds: For their buy 1 get 1 50% off deal, head to 3DayBlinds.com/NPAD.The Amateur Traveler: Get inspired and start planning your next trip with "The Amateur Traveler." Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Close your eyes. Focus. Listen to work getting done with Monday.com. Relax. As AI does the manual work, while your teams are aligned on a single source of truth. Feel the sensation of an AI work platform, so flexible and intuitive, it feels like it was built just for you. Notice you're limitless.

Limitless. Now open your eyes. Go to Monday.com. Start for free and finally. Breathe. Girl, winter is so last season. And now Springs got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders.

That perfect hang on the patio sundress. Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear up on that envelope? It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. Hello everyone. Welcome back to National Park After Dark. I'm Cassie. And I'm Danielle. And this is Trail Tales. Welcome. Gemini specifically for Gemini season. Yeah, your birthday's tomorrow. It is. Happy birthday to me. Any big plans? Not that I'm aware of. No. I haven't thought about it. I guess it's kind of early. We're recording this pretty early. Yeah. Well, it's hard because you have like other stuff going on. Like by the time this is out, we've already been on your Bachelorette weekend. But that's like looming really close. So.

So I feel like that's already a celebration and fun. That's true. Yeah. But it's kind of like you get two birthdays this month. Yeah. It's my birthday month. Yeah. Well, do you want to share a story?

I'd love to. My first story is titled, aliens in Central Park. Hi, Cassie and Danielle. After a week of cold and rainy weather, we finally had a gorgeous sunny day, so my husband and I decided to go vibe in Central Park. Full disclosure, we each had the tiniest bit of garden gummy, just enough to relax and feel some extra appreciation for nature, not anywhere near enough to start seeing things. That's good to know. The tiniest bit of a garden gummy. That sounds so

wholesome. We found a spot on some grass to lay down and watch the clouds passing above us. As we identified the shapes of each cloud, scorpion dragon turtle, I rub my eyes, assuming the little dots of light in my vision or from staring at the sky for too long. When my husband said, what the hell are those things? Out of nowhere, tiny dots of light appeared, probably 20 of them. Some of them were in a straight line. Some of them were in arrow formation. And there was another cluster to the right of the majority of the dots.

They didn't seem to be moving, just hovering. Of course, this was the day that my husband didn't bring his professional camera with a good zoom lens, but our phones were still able to capture what we saw. After about five minutes, they disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared. We were both feeling flabbergasted. What the hell just happened? We sent the video to my dad, who is extremely intelligent and a huge space enthusiast to see what his explanation was that he could give us. Were we seeing stars in the middle of the day?

Satellites? We didn't have to wait long for his reply. With that much light, you wouldn't see stars. Satellites would be moving very fast across the sky. Definitely aliens. Um, what? That's it? No, brushing it off with some boring explanation.

I asked if he thought that. They were drones and he doubled down with, I'm not going to worry about it until they land on the White House lawn and announce they are taking over. And sent us the link to report a UFO sighting. So if anyone has a more mundane explanation, I'd love to hear it. But instead of government drones, I'd rather believe that the aliens were checking out Central Park to see what the hype was about. Enjoy the view and make sure to watch the sky for UFOs. Well, they sent in the video. So I'll post it.

And everyone can make their mind up for themselves. And I watched it a couple times. And I don't know. It's hard because was it earlier this year with everything going on with the government drone thing? Yeah. Remember? Like it was right after all the L.A. in like California wildfires in the beginning of the year. It was kind of immediately following that.

And a lot of that footage made me question like people's sightings and stuff. But this seems it definitely isn't stars for sure. They are in a pattern. They're pretty. like they're not moving at all. So you think they're UFOs? I don't know what they are. And it's not Starlink.

It's not Starlink, no. It's not in like a band of lights. They're all kind of in this like weird. I don't know, I'll post it so people can make up their minds. Interesting. I hope you saw UFO. That's really cool. Well, my first story is I witnessed a UFO crash landing question mark.

So maybe we're on a theme. Ali. for the win. Hey Danielle and Cassie. I love your podcasts. Y'all help me get through my long distance and overnight drives. About a month ago, I was listening to the episode on the Alagash Wilderness Waterway abductions and had convinced myself if I ever see a UFO, then that's a guaranteed abduction whether I remember it or not.

This didn't scare me at the time. I always believed that I'm more likely to encounter Bigfoot than I am a UFO. With that, I'm hoping there's a listener out there that can debunk the experience I'll be sharing with you today. And before we get started, I must preface. I know absolutely nothing about satellites or drones or whatever else could be confused as a UFO. So please debunk me. This person's begging for somebody to. Like, please tell me this is not aliens. Last night, I was driving from Boise back to Portland on the I-84. I often prefer driving through the night because I love the solitude. Around 4.30 a.m., it was already pretty light outside. When suddenly, appearing out of nowhere in my direct

line of vision, something that looked like a comet or aircraft was rushing directly towards the Columbia River about to crash. It was not glowing as if it was on fire from breaking through the atmosphere or smoking as if a small aircraft had malfunctioned. It was as if a contrail was heading straight for land with no aircraft leading away. I began to panic because this falling object was moving very fast and close enough to affect me if causing an aftershock upon arrival. When suddenly the contrail cleared, there was a UAE. headed straight for the river. The aircraft looked like a combination of a small military jet and an arrowhead without any divots or bulges. The oddest part about its appearance was that it was glowing

bright green and purple entirely. As it rapidly approached the river, maybe about 40 feet above the water, this UAP flashed and disappeared with a short and quiet boom. It looks so much like a regular military jet, but I can't seem to explain away the sudden appearance in the middle of the sky. the bright colors of the ship and the way it disappeared. Even if it was a normal aircraft that exploded, there was no debris. My concept of time felt altered as well. This happened all within 30 seconds, but it felt as though I was watching it in slow motion, regardless of its fast descent, and it was so close, I could see it so clearly.

Although I've never thought much about what would happen or how I'd feel if I saw a UFO, I do believe they would have technology to track and find any witnesses to their existence. I'm hoping that whoever or whatever was on that ship is alive and well, and that they were too focused on not crashing to notice me. After this sighting, I had to pause the tooth and claw episode I was listening to and my jaw dropped, stunned for the next 10 minutes trying to process what I just saw. I submitted my sighting to the UFO database, and I have linked it below. They'll be investigating my report and potentially uploading it to the database. If anyone is curious, it would be the log from May 25th, 2025 at 4.30 a.m. in Arlington, Oregon. I don't have a photo of the ship, unfortunately,

but I attached a cute little pick I got of Mount Hood about an hour later for good measure. Let this be a reminder for everyone. Enjoy the view, but keep your eyes in the sky, Steph. I don't know if I can debunk that. I also don't know a lot about aircrafts and drones and things like that, but this story reminds me so much. It, like, time warped me back into, I must have been, I don't know, maybe 12 or 13. And I was driving, I can still picture it so clear as day. I was driving with my dad back to Connecticut because I had just been dropped off by my mom like halfway through. They would always like kind of hand me over. And it was the nighttime and we were on the highway. There wasn't any other cars on the road. And we were talking, whatever, chit chatting. And then all of a sudden,

we saw a something very similar to this description. And it kind of like, there's, It was dark enough that it was black outside, but you could still kind of see the outlines of the mountains and stuff and the hills. And it was kind of like skirting above that outline. And then it took like a little sharp decline and it looked like it went into the water on either side of the highway. And my dad, like mid-conversations, he's like, oh, he's like, look, look, look. And I saw it. And he pulled over and he was like, that was something. that was just something. And he was going through all the things. He's like, it wasn't like a comet or

media or whatever. There was no tail on it. It didn't look like a shooting star. It was, and he was losing his mind. And he was trying. I'm like, I'm 12. I don't know what I just saw, but I know my dad's excited. So I'm excited. And we got back. And this was the early 2000s like Google was around and stuff, but he, like, emailed a bunch of people, like, in the field and been, and described what it is we saw in a lot of detail and was basically asking them to debunk it. He's like, can you tell me what I saw? And based on his description, a lot of them were like, it doesn't really match anything that, you know, we're familiar with, but not to say it's an alien or a UFO or whatever. But he was, he loved that. And I was so happy because I got to kind of experience it.

Yeah. Even if it wasn't something, it's still a fun. It's still a fun memory. It's exciting. I don't think it was a UFO. But it was fun nonetheless. So going back to Steph, I don't know. Who am I to say? We can't say if it was or was not aliens. It's just interesting that it disappeared right above the water. And like, was she saying it went into the water? Or it just disappeared right above it? It sounds like it just disappeared. It's the lights that are kind of like something that glows green and purple. I can't think of any aircrafts that I know of.

And what aircraft would be dive bombing into the water with no. Yeah. Like then it just goes away. I don't know. Yeah. It seems like an alien. Yeah. And it's around Mount Hood.

Which is known for some stuff going on. Yeah. So probably aliens. Yeah. We're not going to debunk. We personally won't debunk it. But maybe other people are. Maybe other people who know more about it than we do.

We don't know shit. Yeah, we don't know. Don't ask us. Yeah, don't ask us. But we think aliens. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime originals have everything you want.

Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice. Off campus, L, every year after, the love hypothesis. Sterling Point and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. My next story is titled, Started from the Bottom. Start from the bottom. Hello ladies. I absolutely love listening to the podcast and hearing about all the amazing national parks. The stories have inspired a few of my trips and led to many great trail tales. The story I'd like to share today took place a few years ago when I was going to graduate school, school and had a small break from class in the form of a four-day weekend. Feeling burnt out from all the

schoolwork, I decided to take an impromptu trip to visit a friend out in Colorado. I love to hike, but being from the Midwest, our trails are more like scenic walks consisting of flat prairie, lakes, and forest. While the nature here is beautiful, I wanted to see mountains, and though it would be only a short trip, I was determined to summit a 14er. While this would be my first big hike, I had been regularly running and hiking at the time, so I figured that this would be a reasonably attainable goal. Wanting to make the most of my time and hike the best 14er I could, I settled upon Mount Albert. My friend who lived in Colorado warned me about altitude sickness and stressed how important it was for us to summit before the afternoon storms rolled in.

We planned to hike on the last full day of my trip to give me two days to acclimate to the altitude. In the days prior, we did two shorter hikes and I was feeling good about my endurance. Yes, the elevation was something new, but I was energized and vowed to not let the 14er get the better of me. The day of the hike, we set off shortly before daybreak in high hopes of reaching the summit before 11. The first hour, we maintained a decent pace, and I admired the beauty around me, gentle streams and less vegetation. It was around the second hour that I felt my stomach gurgle. Unfortunately, not with hunger. I personally hate using the bathroom outdoors as I feel incredibly vulnerable, so I made my friend stand guard on the trail to

ensure no one would come up trapezing through accidentally. Thankfully, they had the foresight to bring along supplies, and I found a spot in the brush to do my business. A little embarrassed, I rejoined my friend on the trail and we continued our ascent. Past the tree line, I began to slow down my pace. It wasn't that my muscles were sore, but I began to feel like each step required additional effort on my behalf. My friend began to pull away as they maintained our usual pace. Noticing my sluggishness, They slowed with me and we continued on. I could tell they were anxious as they repeatedly checked their watch and I resolved to push through this lethargic spell so that we could reach the summit in time. I recognized that the altitude was affecting me, but I didn't realize just how bad it was hitting me until we were walking along an open section dotted with scree.

My stomach struck with a vengeance and I knew I had a matter of seconds before my pants were ruined. I quickly bounced over some vegetation, dropped trow and plopped myself among the rocks. Mortified, my friend continued on, and I took note of my surroundings. With no trees nearby, I was completely exposed out in the open, but thankfully, no hikers were around to witness me hit rock bottom, quite literally. I felt like Maya Rudolph's character and bridesmaids. You know which scene I'm talking about, yes. It's happening. It's happening.

It's happening. Yes, I was really doing it. I was shitting in the rocks. You're in the rocks instead of in the middle of New York City. Oh, oh. Shit in the street. Shitting in the street. Or in the bathroom.

Oh, my God. That was like maybe one of the last iconic movies of our generation. I loved bridesmaids. It was so funny. And I think it's so relatable when your best friend gets married and then their other best friends are there. You're like, you know, what are they doing? That's what you're about to put me through.

Literally tomorrow. Literally tomorrow. How dare you? It's like, it's just so relatable for every friendship, you know? It's just like, you have the one friend that's like over the top, the other one, like giving out puppies and the other one's like, wait, but the memories. And I don't know. It's just the movie's gold. If you haven't seen it, you should watch it.

The last time I watched it was on Netea's Bachelorette party last year. Was it last year? Or was it two years ago? I feel like it was last year. She got married last summer. Yeah. It was last summer. Yeah. Between all you guys, I swear to God, I have been bridesmaid or made of honor so many times. Just like one after the other, after the other. You're just an important member of a lot of people's lives. I am. It's a good thing. But anyway, we watched it on our last night. We all like got into the. big, like, great room of the Airbnb we were at on the Cape and watched Brides. It was just iconic. Yeah. That's going to be us in Acadia when it's raining the entire time we're there. Oh, my God. I keep looking at the weather. I'm like, it's beautiful, beautiful. Until we get there. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain. And then it's like, sunny, sunny.

It's like just your weekend. Like, oh, no. It'll change. Maybe. Thursday actually has changed where it's supposed to be really nice all day. So I'm like, maybe we can like hustle up there and get some get a hike in i don't know to something outside before and it's like also i know a lot of the girls just either i know of them or i've met them before but never all together and so in my mind i'm like i'm going to akedia with cassie we're going to be bopnort we're going to be hiking we're going to do this and that and then i'm like oh wait i don't think we're hiking truly hiking i'm going to i don't think everyone will want to participate in hiking but i i It's my weekend.

And I think I'm going to like want to dip out as like an optional hiking opportunity for people when though. There's time. There's time on Saturday if it's not downpouring on us. Right. Right. And there's time on Friday. Also if it's not downpouring.

I'm so excited for the boat for. Me too. If it's not raining. It's going to be great and amazing no matter what. We're going to see puffins. Yeah. I also booked us all. I guess I haven't told any of you guys this.

So surprise. I booked us all a sunset. set kayaking tour in the ocean. Oh, no, you told. I knew this. Amy told me that. Oh, okay. You told Amy and Amy told everyone. That makes sense. She can't keep her mouth shut. She also is in charge of telling everyone

what's happening, so it's not her fault. I'm just kidding. You haven't told anybody. But everyone else knows. Okay. Well, surprise. Would you all be fun? Yeah, except I booked it on the day that it's supposed to ring the the worst. Everyone's going to be like, thank you.

for booking this. Thank you. We can't see the sunset. I'm cold and wet. It's raining. It's 45 degrees. In the middle of the ocean battling for our lives. Fighting for our lives. Whatever. It builds character. It builds something. Sometimes trauma. She's there. She's shitting on rocks. Anyway, she's shitting on rocks like in bridesmaids. A noise to my left and away from the trail startled me and I turned to see a marmot popping up from a pile of rocks in the distance. As I focused on it, more movement caught my eye. Soon I noticed two, then four marmits scrambling across the scree. One in particular approached me and sat on a rock just out of arm's reach, looking at me as if judging my poor decisions.

Weekend and feeling like I had just single-handedly offended this group of marmits, I finished up and continued on with my hike. By this point, my friend was a dot on the mountainside, and I hustled up to catch up with them. We reached the first fall summit much later than anticipated and saw dark clouds in the distance. Still determined, we pressed on along the saddle. It wasn't long before the storm rolled in and lightning flashed across the summit.

This was the point that we realized besting the 14er wouldn't be possible and decided to swallow our pride. We turned around and made for the descent. In my lack of experience, I didn't realize just how fast the winds would move across the ridge line and we were soon drenched with rain. All I could think about was how easily a bolt of lightning could strike us up here and how foolish a decision it was for us to have continued on. Adding insult to injury, it began to hail. Small stones of ice pelted us as we bounded over rocks and hurried along the trail. We finally

reached the end of the fall summit and began a quick descent down the mountainside, perhaps too quick of a descent. I became bloated and uncomfortable as we made our way to the tree line. Pretty soon, I couldn't hold it in any longer. With each step, I tried to discreetly release a little bit of gas while I hung back from my friend. Of course, I failed to meet the noise. Step, fart. Step, fart. It was the most uncomfortable descent I could imagine.

My friend and I spoke very little, I'm sure, as we trekked back to the parking lot, which unfortunately only made my flatulence more obvious to passing hikers. Oh, no. The cart ride back to the town was quiet, and I knew we were both disappointed with the hike's outcome. I drove back to the Midwest the next day

with sore achy muscles nursing a bottle of gatorade as I recovered from altitude sickness. I felt defeated and exhausted. I so badly wished I could have completed the hike and summited my first 14er, but in retrospect, I'm glad we turned around. I recognize how naive it was of me to not properly acclimate and how dangerous it was to continue hiking after witnessing lightning less than a mile away. I'm lucky things turned out the way it did. Overall, my attempt at a 14er was a humbling lesson. While perseverance is admirable, it's okay to call off a hike, especially if you're feeling sick or in danger of the elements. Also, if your trail buddy has explosive diarrhea on the side of the mountain, please don't abandon them to be judged by marmits.

I've gained more experience since then and even met my husband, who is an incredibly supportive trail buddy. With his encouragement, we've summited Monakia in Hawaii and hiked to the Harding Icefield in Alaska after taking the proper precautions, of course. And when we got married, It wasn't in a chapel or a courthouse, but out in nature in our hiking boots. Kaylee. I feel like, I want to say we've all been there, but I, knock on wood, have never had explosive diarrhea on the trail. Yeah.

I've never had, I've had to go to the bathroom on the trail, but I've never had explosive diarrhea while. I've got my period out. Actually, I got my period on Mount Washington, and it was a surprise. The worst time for my period when hiking was when we were in Patagonia, and it was one of the, I don't know, I don't remember what hike it was, but you'll remember the at the trailhead. It's the day that Ashley had those zip pants that she was showing us. The zip pants.

And like the bathroom was that the most disgusting outhouse I've ever seen in my whole life. You literally opened it and you're like, I'm not going in there and you turned right around. Oh yeah, I do remember that. That day, I was like, it was one of those days like TMI, but I was like, I am whatever tampon I have. in right now is like, is a fallen soldier and it's not doing anything to help me, you know. Yeah. I was just like hiking and I just knew I'm like, this is going to be a, this is going to be a bad situation.

This is going to be a blood bath. Yeah. Literally. Yeah. And then so like we finally get back down and I'm like, where can I go to like try and address this? And I saw that out house type of situation. I'm like, I can't.

I can't do it. It's not that much of an emergency. Yeah. It's like, I'm just going to bleed out. It's fine. No worries. We were with mostly women anyway. Yeah.

Who cares? Okay. My next story is titled Answering the Call for Family Lour, Spooky Edition. Dun, down, down. First time caller, long time listener. My girlfriend and I are both avid outdoors people who love the podcast and always listen to and from every camping trip we take together. I've always wanted to submit a story to you, but haven't had anything interesting enough

happened to me while in the outdoors or national parks. Trust me, when that happens, you'll be the first to hear about it. But a few weeks ago, when Danielle put out the call for weird family lore stories, I instantly thought to myself, finally, this is my chance, and I hope it's not too morbid for you. Trigger warning, the following contains talks of suicide. My story starts all the way back when my dad was a teenager growing up in Burlington, a distant suburb of Toronto, Ontario with his parents, two brothers, and one sister. One night, while some of the family was out of the house, my dad, Doug, and his oldest brother, Dave, were hanging out at home.

Dave was upstairs in his room while my dad was all the way in the basement listening to his records. Some time had passed and my grandparents returned home to find my dad in the basement, music still blaring. Where is Dave? They asked. Upstairs, I think, my dad replied, what they found next was truly devastating. Dave had taken his own life. Dave had always been a gifted athlete, playing sports all throughout high school. Sports were everything to him, but due to some health problems that had arisen, he was looking at the possibility of having his legs amputated.

Although no one can say for sure, this may have been the catalyst for the self-inflicted gunshot that ended his life. The police were called and questioned my dad as he was the only one home at the time. He told them whatever information he could but ultimately didn't hear anything due to his records being played in the basement. At the time, my dad's family weren't very well off and couldn't afford to extract the bullet from the wall, so instead my grandpa plastered over the hole and repainted the room. Time went on and everyone slowly adjusted to their new normal. Fast forward many years later, my parents met, fell in love, and had two children, my older sister, Danielle, and me, Jessie.

To help out our young and growing family, my grandparents sold my dad the house and downsized to a condo. My sister and I spent our whole childhood in that house unaware of what had happened. And at that point, unaware that we even had an uncle Dave. One night when my sister was about eight years old, she had been startled away. awake from a bad dream. This wasn't uncommon. She can be quite dramatic at times. Hearing her screaming out, my mom got out of bed and tried to settle her down. Half asleep, she walked down the hall to the room. That's right, the room. I'll never understand why my parents put my sister in that bedroom. It was a four-bedroom

house, so we had a spare, but I digress. When she got there, she found my sister crying frantically, and it was soon obvious that maybe she wasn't just being dramatic this time. My mom being the ever-combe and cool parent she is, sat on the edge of Danielle's bed, and started into motions of settling Danielle back down to sleep. What happened? She asked. I had a bad dream. What was the dream about? She replied, on the verge of nodding off herself. Danielle replied, I dreamt that there was a man in my room, and he was painting the walls red. My mom jolted to life as the hair started to stand on the back of her neck, but trying to keep it together, she asked, oh, and where was this man standing? Without hesitation, my sister pointed right to the area of the wall that had been patched so many years before.

My mom's blood ran cold, but like the pro she is, she never let on and eventually got my sister to go back to sleep. The very next morning, she packed up everything in Danielle's room and moved her into the spare. Now, I will admit, I have never been a big believer in ghosts or the supernatural. But when my mom told me this story for the first time years later, it sent a shiver down my spine, and I can't help but wonder, was that really my uncle that Danielle saw in her dream that night or was it all just a coincidence? So that's my story and I hope you enjoyed it. I know that it doesn't reach back many generations, but it's a piece of lore told within my circle of family and friends all the same. Thank you for reading, Jessie. How is that a coincidence? Yeah, painting the wall a red. I mean,

and because your sister just felt so shaken by it. Yeah. Whereas I feel like it just must have felt so real, you know, which I also think adds some validity to. this being a part of something bigger. Like connected. Yeah. In some way. And to point out the exact part of the room, she's completely underwear. She doesn't even know this man existed.

It's really her mom's reaction that like solidifies it for me. It's like if her mom didn't really think that this was connected in kind of like a darker way somehow or just like not a good way for a child to be exposed to. She wouldn't have the very next morning got up and moved moving your stuff. sucks. Like rearranging and moving out of a room is not fun. So to do that, you had to really have a reason to do that immediately after she has that dream. I will say when I was growing up, I loved rearranging my room. I'm like, what can I do to make this new and fresh? I did used to move my bed all the time. And then I'd stand and stare at my room and be like,

I did it. And then no one would come over. I never invited anyone. And I just liked, I don't know, just. Your space. staying busy and like the feng shui of it being new and I don't know. Yeah. But anyway, I did too. Yeah. I don't think it was coincidence, but who am I to say? We did ask for family lore.

So thank you for sharing. My next story is titled, Let Me Tell You About Hot Springs. Hi, ladies. My name is Turner and I've been a sporadic listener since your sinisterhood crossover, but I've been binging the podcast since I listened to your Hot Springs episode with my fiance, now has been on our way to Hot Springs National Park to get married in October of 2024. Very cool. I grew up going to Hot Springs every summer, so that national park is near and dear to my heart. But as much as I love Hot Springs, I feel like it has a reputation for being a

not-so-cool natural park. But there is so much beauty in Arkansas that gets overlooked, and I just wanted to tell y'all about it and share some photos. My mother's side of the family have all been born and raised in hot springs area for at least the last five generations. I broke tradition a little as the six since I was born in North Arkansas. They all went to the same small high school for the same small towns and there are roads named after our family due to how long they have lived in the area. My great-great-grandparents were forced to sell their family land to build Lake Hamilton, and later my great-grandparents and great-aunts and uncles had to sell their new family homestead to build Lake de Grey. My mother remembers crying having to say goodbye to the family

homes and how mad everyone was at for being forced out of the area. But they still stayed because they loved their home and I'm writing today because I love it too. My husband and I were married in the Garvin Gardens portion of the National Park, which is operated by the University of Arkansas in the Anthony Chapel. I grew up watching the construction of the chapel and making trips to the gardens and historic sites with my grandma Noni. I was 12 when I decided I was getting married there, even if it took another 18 years for that to actually happen. It's a manicured area that puts on seasonal events, including holiday lights, which is how I first got introduced to hiking. Little me holding my hot chocolate and my mama's hand in puffy purple coat wandering around the paths and trails to see the lights in the cold of December.

The gardens is a great place to get into the parks since there are a lot of people, well-maintained paved paths, and just beautiful natural flora there. It's stunning. Our family would go to filling stations to get water from the springs for the week. there's nothing quite like spring water, and marvel at the Wachita Mountains. The mountains were awe-striking, especially in the spring and fall when the leaves are changing colors and coming back to life. The mountain tower is a must visit when you go because the view it gives of the mountains. You can see for miles, and sometimes it doesn't seem like there's anyone else in the world. The paths are winding and quiet, and I feel most at ease in those woods.

Even if I did watch a black bear raid by Noni's Tomatoes one summer. She was so mad she didn't have enough to can as much salsa as she needed for Christmas that year. In addition to being a beautiful area, the area is steeped in history. From Al Capone, to ferry crossings for people traveling west, to the Arlington Hotel, and even the buildings, everything there has history. Even the land not in the park. Minoni and Carol owned, I think, about 100 acres of land in Hot Springs Village outside the National Park right on the river. While they sold that land to friends and acquaintances over the years to build their dream homes, one thing they insured was that the historic cemetery on their property was preserved. When I was a child, we would spend days cleaning the land around the cemetery and making sure that

the people buried there were honored. We would upright, the overturned and broken, long since illegible headstones, remove the poison ivy and oak, and we had a small area for artifacts like broken glass, wires, and wood that likely once marked off the cemetery. Minone was never able to confirm who was buried there or why, and she wasn't able to get the state to recognize the land. But since she and my carol were in charge of the development of the land, such as naming roads and such built on the property, they made sure it was marked as historical and not for development by the county. Our family thinks it was likely a cemetery from the 1800s for enslaved persons since it was located in what would have been a remote area that was being

developed for the ferry and enslaved persons who would have most likely been living in that area. The South's history with slavery is a black stain. The hours I spent exploring their land it going to museums and enjoying the park have made me who I am. I live in Houston now, which feels so far removed from nature and from the national park I considered my second home as a child. But my home is still in the forest and mountains. I truly hope you get a chance to experience it in person. On a personal note, Danielle, I wanted to offer my deepest condolences for your loss of Ian. I worked as a death investigator for several years and have seen how grief is an emotion that sits with you for the rest of your life. It may have been some time since his passing,

but grief doesn't shrink, you just make more room. He was a beautiful soul and your love for him is transcendent. I'm sending so many virtual hugs your way always. Thank you for sharing him and your journey with us as much as you have. It's helped me process some of my own grief as death is something we all experience. I'm so disappointed I didn't get a spot on the upcoming outsider's camping trip in Hawaii, but I'm looking forward to trying to make the next one. You ladies, keep being amazing, Turner.

Aw, I love that one just because it showed just. just like so much love and appreciation for a park. And I think most of us have just kind of like this visitor lens of parks of like, oh, that was cool. And I had a really good like week there or whatever, you know, or a couple days. And then there are people who it's just like so intertwined with their lives and their family's lives. And I just love that. It was like a little love letter to Hot Springs. Yeah. And it's kind of a reminder that these places are also people's homes. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

My last story is titled A Silly Goose and a Horny Grouse. Oh. Sharp. Okay. Okay. Let's do it. Hello, Cassie and Danielle. First off, I have to start off by telling you how much I love the pod.

My name is Amanda, feel free to share. Your podcast has been my companion on many solo runs and long drives to various adventures. My husband and I recently went to Yosemite to hike to May Lake, which is a high alpine lake off of Tioga Road. The Tioga Road is closed for the winter in early spring every year, and it had just opened this last week, so we jumped at the first chance we had to explore some trails off of it. I am an anxious human being by nature, but my husband is calm as a cucumber. Needless to say, after a 3 a.m. wake-up call, a three-hour drive to the park, and too much coffee on an empty stomach, my nerves were jangled. We got to the entrance off a Tioga Road, and the gate was closed, so we added on the additional two miles up the road to the trailhead. When we got to the trailhead, the entire trail was covered in several feet of snow,

but we were able to navigate the first half mile by footprints of previous hikers. We got about a quarter mile from the lake when we both heard this deep, worrying noise. Confused, we stopped and my husband asked if I heard the noise. I nodded but brushed it off as a plane. We kept hiking and a few moments later we heard it again, but this time it was closer. My mind instantly went to bears or another large animal because, of how deep the sound was. My husband tried to calm me down by saying whatever it was would leave us alone, but I was not so convinced. We hiked further and we heard it a third time, and it sounded like

it was from right over one of the snow banks. At this point, I was thoroughly spooked as we were the only people within miles on this hike. I turned on my heel and started hiking as fast as I could out of there. To make matters worse, we saw a large area in the snow where the snow was a deep red color and some prints nearby. At this point, I was thoroughly convinced that some whirring bear was stalking us, and we were its next victim, and I hightailed it out of there with my husband hot on my heels trying to calm me down. When we were away from the dreaded noise, he joked, watch, it'll be something silly like a bird that scared us away. We ended up hiking by Tenaya Lake instead, and on the way home, I decided to Google Animal Deep Waring Noise Yosemite. And sure enough, it was a freaking bird. The suity grouty grouch.

makes a deep wearing noise when it is looking for a mate. So I got spooked off this trail by a horny bird. We also googled red snow in the Sierra and it's called watermelon snow and it is caused by an algae. Oh, we saw that in Alaska. We saw that in Alaska. Up on the, I almost said Harding Ice Field. Where did we, what was the ice field we went, we hiked to? One was the heart. Was it that? Yeah. I think so. Yeah, up there. I have pictures of it. Yeah. I have pictures of the snow. It looked like it wasn't a circular pattern. I didn't go to the ice field. Oh, right. Yeah. Okay. It was like it looked like a trail. It looked like something had dragged a bloody body. But it was algae. But it was algae. Interesting. It's scary. Yeah, super interesting. I didn't know it was called water and snow though. Okay. Yes. And it's caused by an algae. Moral of the story is to trust your partner when they tell you to remain calm and don't trust everything your sleep-deprived, over-caffeinated brain tells you.

I have attached a Google image of what this bird looks like and a photo of my husband and I enjoying the leg after our failed hike. Enjoy the view, but watch your back. You never know if a horny bird is following you. Sincerely, Amanda. Before we move on, I'm going to type in, Suity Grouse. I want to hear it. Okay.

Because was I with you? It was either you or Ian at Mount St. Helens. And there was like some weird noise coming from a bush. that I was really afraid of. That was me. And wasn't it a bird? Yeah, it was a bird. It was like kind of towards the end of the trail.

Yes. And we were like, what is that? And everyone was kind of looking around and we're like, is it a bird? But it was on a weird like edge and you couldn't see everything. And there's a bunch of mountain line warnings around there. And we had seen some scat and stuff. So I'm like, I don't know. So it kind of reminds me of that.

Sooty Grouse, mating hall. I just want to play it to see if, like, we too would be that concerned or if we'd be like, that's definitely a bird. Even though you did get scared by a chicken. I did get scared by a chicken. It does sound pretty familiar. It's been a while, but. Is that what we heard?

You think? I don't know. It's been a while. You would think that that was definitely a bird. That doesn't sound like a bear to me. It kind of has like a weird huffing to it, though. It's like, mm-hmm, mm. Yeah, that's true.

And if you're, like, already on edge. Yeah. I'm like, that's it. I'm about to die. Cool. Is that it? Yeah, that's our last story for you guys. We do have two more on Patreon.

Mine is titled What Lurks in the Woods. And mine is titled Chainsawes, Colts, and Asleep Paralysis Demon. Oh, man. So if you want to hear these, you can join us on Patreon or, um, on Apple subscriptions, I guess for a plug-in for Patreon. If you're not on Patreon yet, we do offer a lot more than just these extra bonus stories. You can listen to Ad-Free. We have bonus episodes every month.

We have itineraries. We have a book club. And Turner, when you were like, I'm bummed, I didn't get a spot on your Hawaii trip. Well, just so you know, our trips do book up really fast. Like, we'll give you guys that. Whoever gets on them, God bless. But there are some people who plans come up. I mean, we book these like a year in advance, things come up. And when people have to cancel and we have an opening on whatever trip it may be, we always post it to Patreon first. So you get first dibs over there. Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot of cool benefits over there. We do live streams once a month. Yeah. We do a lot on Patreon, I feel like. We do do a lot on Patreon. Yeah, from the book club, the live streams. The live stream, we do a live stream, but then we have a live stream. We do a live stream. But then we have a live stream. book club meeting. So we really have two live streams that we do every month. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Discord to hang out with

all our community on there. We have merch benefits. There's a lot of stuff on there. Oh yeah. We offered 20% off. Yeah. Yeah. So we did. Just saying. Just saying if you want to be an outsider, it's pretty cool over there. Awesome. Okay. Well, oh, hello. Hi. Oh, hi. Atticus is here. I almost said Atlas. May Atticus? All I care are so loboring my is on the microphone. Okay, so I'm trying to work. This is called working and it's not for you. How long has you been at your house now?

Is he your dog now? I know. People are going to be like, that's not Chaska. I don't know. I just miss having two dogs. I think there's an energy about it that's fun. And yeah, so my sister very generously lends me her dog Atticus when I'm feeling like I need some affection because Chaska is amazing and perfect and lovely in every way. But he is not a, he doesn't really want to be near. He wants to be near me and within sight of me, but he doesn't want me to touch him. Yeah, like he doesn't want to be cuddled. No, no.

Like he'll take a pet. pet every once in a while, but aside from that, there is no cuddling or comfort or physical. Physical touch is not his love language, which is totally fine. But when I had Blue, I mean, for nine years, blue was so affectionate. And he was so cuddly. Cuddlebug. And just like, I miss having that, especially being alone and just, I don't know, like, you just need some physical companionship sometimes. And I just feel like when I feel a little extra lonely or going through it. I text Alyssa, I'm like, hey, so I'm going to need to take Atticus for a little bit. And she's like, I have a toddler, please take him off my hands. I was going to say he's been in your house for like weeks. She's like, she hasn't even asked me like when I'm bringing him back. She's just like, see, she gives me a huge thing of his food, like enough to last like months. She's like, see ya. Like, just so you know he's doing fine.

And she's like, oh, right, yeah, good. Yeah. Who? Who is this? I know what you're talking about. Yeah, so anyway. Okay. Well, yeah, that's it.

Outsiders, we'll see you in a moment. Everyone else, please enjoy the view. But watch you back. Bye, everyone. Bye. Thank you for joining us again this week. If you have a trail tale of your own you'd like to share, you can write to us at N-P-A-D-Stories at gmail.com

or visit our website at N-P-A-D-Podcast.com. Bonus trail tales and content are available to Patreon members and Apple subscribers. Follow the show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X at National Park After Dark. And if you prefer to watch our episodes, you can find us on YouTube at National Park After Dark. And as always, if you enjoy the show, please take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful fact you may not know yet. Drivers who switch and save with Progressive save over $900 on average.

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